Sunset Ridge Elem School, Northfield IL

Original Research by School Decision on Sunset Ridge Elem School

Sunset Ridge Elementary School serves students in grades four through eight in Northfield, a small, quiet residential village on Chicago's North Shore. The school sits at the heart of Sunset Ridge School District 29, a district whose two main buildings serve the community's youngest learners. With an enrollment of roughly two hundred fifty students, the school is intimate in scale, characteristic of the leafy, family-oriented North Shore communities it serves.

Academic performance across tested grades and subjects is notably strong. In English language arts, proficiency rates are consistently in the high range across the grade span, with particular strength in grade four and grade six. Math proficiency is solid across all grades, with grade seven showing the highest attainment. Grade eight science proficiency is strong, though fifth-grade science is markedly lower, suggesting a dip in that subject for younger middle grades. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile when compared to districts across Cook County. Participation rates in state assessments are high across nearly all grades and subjects, indicating reliable testing compliance. State testing data for grade three were not available, which is typical because third grade is tested less frequently in Illinois than higher grades.

The student body is predominantly white, with Asian students comprising a meaningful minority share and smaller numbers of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. The school draws from a primarily affluent neighborhood; the median home value in the 60093 zip code is high, and rent is correspondingly elevated. Free-and-reduced-price-lunch data were not available for the school, which may reflect either suppressed release of this data at small schools or a genuinely low-poverty enrollment. Demographic breakdowns of students receiving special education or classified as English learners were not provided in the data.

The broader district context matters here. In March 2026, voters approved a substantial bond measure to overhaul Middlefork School, the K-3 building, a project that will increase the district's property tax rate to the second highest among New Trier High School feeder districts. For families moving into the area, this represents both a facilities improvement for elementary students and a durable tax obligation on their property. The district is incrementally upgrading its aging infrastructure while navigating the fiscal trade-offs that come with aging facilities in a built-out suburb.

Northfield itself is a car-dependent village without a traditional downtown, though it sits within a short drive of parks, libraries, and commercial nodes. The village hosts notable corporate employers, including Medline Industries, and is served by Pace bus routes connecting to Metra and CTA rail. The real estate market is hot and high-priced, with homes selling within about a month and attracting younger families drawn to the schools and residential character. This is a place where families are trading affordability for a particular kind of North Shore community and school environment.

Sunset Ridge Elementary is a competent, stable school in a small, affluent district serving a residential village. It shows solid academic progress across its grade span, particularly in language arts and mathematics. A parent considering this location should factor in both the school's academic strength and the recent tax increase tied to district facilities work, as well as the car-centered character of the village and the premium real estate cost that comes with the area.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 483%

School 83% · District 83%

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 54 pts above county median

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 58 pts above county median

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 57 pts above state median · ▲ 63 pts above county median

Grade 788%

School 88% · District 88%

▲ 60 pts above state median · ▲ 67 pts above county median

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 56 pts above state median · ▲ 61 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 492%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 86%

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 692%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 782%

School 82% · District 82%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 889%

School 89% · District 89%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Science

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 83%

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 56 pts above county median

This schoolSunset Ridge SD 29, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.